Preston Beach Western Australia | |
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Coordinates | 32°53′00″S115°39′00″E / 32.88333°S 115.65000°E Coordinates: 32°53′00″S115°39′00″E / 32.88333°S 115.65000°E |
Population | 218 (2011 census) [1] |
Established | 1959 |
Postcode(s) | 6215 |
Location | |
LGA(s) | Shire of Waroona |
State electorate(s) | Murray-Wellington |
Federal division(s) | Forrest |
Preston Beach is a small town located in the Peel region of Western Australia just off the Forrest Highway, between Mandurah and Bunbury in the Yalgorup National Park.
Explorers Dr Alexander Collie and Lieutenant William Preston RN first came across what are now Lakes Preston and Clifton while exploring the coastline between Mandurah and Bunbury in 1829. After the introduction of convicts to the Swan River Colony in the 1850s, the "Old Coast Road" south of Mandurah was rebuilt. For most of its length, the road went through well-timbered, sandy limestone country of little value to agriculture.
The "Preston Beach Estate" was privately developed in 1959, and together with the "Lakeside Estate", was incorporated as the locality Yalgorup by the request of the local government - the name meaning "place of waters or lakes" in the Noongar language. The townsite was gazetted in 1975. However, in 1989, the name was changed to Preston Beach on request from the Shire of Waroona, as this was the local name for the town. [2]
Preston Beach has basic accommodation and facilities. A couple of roadhouses for passing trucks and motorists are located on Old Coast Road 4 km from the town. A convenience store and service station can be found in the centre of the town. The beach has showers, BBQ facilities, and children's play facilities.
In 2006 Waroona Shire Council was developing a strategy for development of areas to the north and south of the townsite, which have been identified for urban expansion since the 1990s and secured by land developers. The strategy was expected to be completed in late 2007. [3]
The Yalgorup National Park was established in the 1970s to protect the coastal lakes, swamps and tuart woodland in the area. The area is also central to waterbird migration patterns. At the edge of Lake Clifton, rock-like structures called thrombolites can be seen, built by tiny microorganisms believed to resemble the earliest forms of life on Earth. Scientists have suggested their presence here may be due to upwellings of fresh groundwater high in calcium carbonate. An observation walkway has been constructed to allow visitors to view these fragile structures. [4]
Preston Beach is known for the town's abundance of Western Grey Kangaroo. Other marsupials that can be found in the area are the Common Brushtail Possum and Bandicoot. [5]
The main road route through the area is the Old Coast Road (Highway 1; Mandurah to Bunbury), 4 km away, where Perth-Bunbury buses are operated by Transwa under the Public Transport Authority.
Yalgorup National Park is a national park in Western Australia, 105 km south of Perth, and directly south of Mandurah
Mandurah is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated approximately 72 kilometres (45 mi) south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's second most populous city, with a population of approximately 117,000, ahead of that of nearby Bunbury.
Waroona is a town located in the Peel region of Western Australia along the South Western Highway, between Pinjarra and Harvey. The town is the seat of the Shire of Waroona. At the 2016 census, Waroona had a population of 2,934.
Brunswick Junction is a town in the South West of Western Australia, situated along the South Western Highway between Harvey and Bunbury. It had a population of 772 people at the 2016 census, down from 797 at the 2006 census.
Harvey is a town located in the South West of Western Australia along the South Western Highway, 140 kilometres (87 mi) south of Perth, between Pinjarra and Bunbury. It has a population of 2,750. Harvey Town is known for its dairy industry and oranges.
South Western Highway is a highway in the South West region of Western Australia connecting Perth's southeast with Walpole. It is a part of the Highway 1 network for most of its length. It is about 406 kilometres (252 mi) long.
Kirup, originally named Upper Capel, then Kirupp, is situated between Donnybrook and Balingup on the South Western Highway, 228 kilometres (142 mi) south of Perth, Western Australia in the upper reaches of the Capel River valley.
Bouvard is the second southernmost suburb of Mandurah, Western Australia, and is 97 kilometres (60 mi) south of the state capital, Perth. Its local government area is the City of Mandurah.
Collie-Preston is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. While the seat was known as Collie for just over a century of its existence as an electorate, the seat was known as South West Mining from 1901 to 1904, and Collie-Wellington from 2005 to 2008. It is named for the South West coal mining town of Collie. While historically a very safe seat for the Labor Party, redistributions in 1988 and 2007 due to increases in the quota for country seats which had historically been malapportioned resulted in the seat incorporating surrounding rural shires which were hostile to Labor and thereby becoming more marginal.
Binningup is a town on the coast of the South West region of Western Australia between Mandurah and Bunbury. At the 2016 census, Binningup had a population of 1,227.
Myalup is a town located on the coast in the South West region of Western Australia between Mandurah and Bunbury. At the 2006 census, Myalup had a population of 144.
Lake Clifton is a small town located on the east side of the lake of the same name in the Peel region of Western Australia just off the Old Coast Road, between Mandurah and Bunbury at the north end of the Yalgorup National Park. At the 2016 census, Lake Clifton had a population of 683.
The City of Mandurah is a local government area of Western Australia, covering both Mandurah proper and an additional area reaching down as far south as Lake Clifton. The city has a total area of approximately 174 square kilometres (67 sq mi).
Herron is a small suburb located in the Peel region of Western Australia just off the Old Coast Road, between Mandurah and Bunbury just beyond Mandurah's urban area. It is on a narrow strip between Lake Clifton and Yalgorup National Park to the west, and Harvey Estuary to the east.
The Shire of Waroona is a local government area in the Peel region of Western Australia between Mandurah and Harvey and about 110 kilometres (68 mi) south of Perth, the state capital. The Shire covers an area of about 835 km² (322 mi²) and its seat of government is the town of Waroona.
The Peel-Harvey Estuarine System is a natural estuarine system that lies roughly parallel to the coast of Western Australia and south of the town of Mandurah. The strip of land between the Indian Ocean and the estuarine system carries the Old Coast Road and to the east is the Forrest Highway which is the main thoroughfare between Perth and the coastal towns of the south west corner of the state including Bunbury and Busselton.
Transport in Perth, Western Australia, is served by various means, among them an extensive highway / freeway network and a substantial system of commuter rail lines and bus routes. Public transport is managed by the Transperth agency.
Forrest Highway is a 95-kilometre-long (59 mi) highway in Western Australia's Peel and South West regions, extending Perth's Kwinana Freeway from east of Mandurah down to Bunbury. Old Coast Road was the original Mandurah–Bunbury route, dating back to the 1840s. Part of that road, and the Australind Bypass around Australind and Eaton, were subsumed by Forrest Highway. The highway begins at Kwinana Freeway's southern terminus in Ravenswood, continues around the Peel Inlet to Lake Clifton, and heads south to finish at Bunbury's Eelup Roundabout. There are a number of at-grade intersections with minor roads in the shires of Murray, Waroona, and Harvey including Greenlands Road and Old Bunbury Road, both of which connect to South Western Highway near Pinjarra.
Pinjarra Road is a major west-east road connecting the two major centres of the Peel Region, Mandurah and Pinjarra. Mostly a dual carriageway, it also forms the termini of both the Kwinana Freeway and Forrest Highway.
The 2016 Waroona-Yarloop bushfire started in the east in the forests of the Darling Scarp before reaching the Swan Coastal Plain and continued westwards until it reached the Indian Ocean. It started as a lightning strike that caused two fires in the Lane Poole Reserve state forest near Dwellingup, Western Australia on 5 January 2016 and then burnt close to Waroona and then through the historical town of Yarloop, destroying it, before continuing southwards towards the outskirts of the town of Harvey and westwards to Preston Beach. Around 70,000 ha of land was burnt, two people died and at least 166 buildings were destroyed in Yarloop alone with only ninety buildings surviving. In total 181 buildings and structures were lost with the total cost of fighting the fire and the cost of the damage and the loss resulting estimated at $155 million.
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